


with great power (comes responsibility i never asked for)

by vapiddreamscape



Category: The Underland Chronicles - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-05 21:57:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4196394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vapiddreamscape/pseuds/vapiddreamscape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years ago, the greatest superhero Regalia has known, the Warrior, disappeared. All attempts to find him have failed, and the people have all but given up hope of his return. But the people need him more than ever. Solovet rules over all of superheroes of Regalia, aside from a select few, and if this small rebellion has any hope of ousting her and instating Luxa, the rightful Queen, they need his help. </p>
<p>But first, there's the matter of finding him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. rendezvous

He scuttles along the rain-slick cobblestones of the Historical District, ignoring the ominous rumblings of thunder overhead. The whole of Regalia has been unquiet this week, thunderstorms never ceasing, as if the city itself knows what’s coming. He wouldn’t be entirely surprised. With the types of people that call this place home, it wouldn’t be that large a leap of faith to assume it’s acquired powers of its own.

He finds a relatively clean alley off of Poplar Street and darts into that. Just his luck, it’s not empty. An angry-looking waiter from the Thai place next door is taking his smoke break. “Hey, rat. Get the hell out of here.” He makes a shooing motion, too lazy to grab the broom leaning against the wall next to him.

Hissing, and heaving as much of a sigh as a rat can while running through flooding streets, he scurries to the next alley along the way. It’s smaller, less clean, but blissfully empty. Since it’s more about location than safety, he dubs it the best he's going to get, given the circumstances. He crouches behind a dumpster, thanking whatever happens to be listening that there's fair amount of space between it and the wall of brick on his other side. And he begins to change.

It’s not painless. His face flattens. His limbs grow. Fur retreats to some unknown ether; fragile human skin is all that remains. His spine straightens and his organs are rearranged while long, sharp teeth shrink into little more than pointed canines. The transformation should be excruciating. In fact, it probably should kill him. But, due to some genetic hiccup, he and plenty of others can complete it with only your run-of-the-mill agony: clothes not included.

Now a naked human, he remains crouched behind the dumpster, praying no one will find him there. It won’t due to get arrested for indecent exposure at this point in the game. That will probably ruin everything. With minutes ticking by, he thinks that might be the most embarrassing way this venture could end. That’s probably why Luxa’s doing it. Though they’re technically on the same side again, they’ve never pretended to be friends.

After about ten minutes, just when he’s about ready to jump up from his hiding place and streak through Regalia, he hears the soft shushing of footsteps over wet rock. “Rager? Are you here?” she asks, _sotto voce_.

“Finally,” he snaps, straightening slightly. A blonde woman, skin practically translucent in the hazy light, walks down the alley toward him, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She tosses in his general direction. He scoffs at the weak throw, but manages to catch it without exposing himself further.

“It would help immensely if you would meet in the rendezvous place we discussed previously. Then I would not have to waste precious time searching for you.”

“Oh stuff it, princess. If we went to the same place every time, they would catch on in a heartbeat. Besides, this way I can make sure your skills aren’t getting rusty. It wouldn’t do, not right before the big showdown.” He smirks at her before pulling the t-shirt she provided over his head. “Is this it? No umbrella? I thought I taught you to always be prepared. Especially where it pertains to me.”

She sighs, spinning her own umbrella, funeral black, in impatient fingers. “Check the side pocket.”

Unzipping it, a sound too loud for this enclosed alley, he finds a small pink umbrella nestled among some towels. “No, princess. This is not going to fly.” He opens it, discovering it is bedecked with the smiling princesses his pups had loved. And, if he is not mistaken, glitter. “You’re switching me, right now before I slit that pretty little throat of yours.”

“Neither of us shall fly if we do not get going with some haste. Aurora is waiting for us a few blocks from here.”

“First, the umbrella. You are _the_ Princess, after all.”

Luxa turns on a boot-clad heel. “You are the one who first taught me to roll with the punches. You should heed your own words. Now hurry up. We’re losing daylight, and we have more people to see than simply one another. Thank God.”

Ripred slipped from out behind the dumpster and scurried to catch up with her. “It’s not like we had much light to begin with. And you know what,” he shakes the umbrella in her face, “I don’t care if you’re the bloody uncrowned Princess of the entire world. That doesn’t give you the right to treat me with this ridiculousness.”

“Being the so-called “Princess of Regalia” has nothing to do with it, Ripred. I just enjoy seeing you flail.”

He would enjoy seeing _her_ flayed. If he didn’t need her to complete this mission, he would have killed her a long time ago. Sometimes, he daydreamed about it, or at the very least, living in a world where her stringent tones wouldn’t provide the vocal talent in his nightmares. He thought about that a lot actually. On the rare nights he tried, it actually helped him sleep.

“The feeling is mutual, Ripred. Now if you wouldn’t mind pulling your thoughts out of the thunderheads and focusing on the task at hand, it would be much appreciated. Or, at the very least, shut up.”

He respects her wish for approximately…eight and a half seconds before putting on his best falsetto. Pulling no punches, he cries loud enough for the block to hear, “Oh, look at me, I’m Luxa. I don’t have a last name and read minds and use fancy words to hide the fact I’m emotionally traumatized from a childhood at war. Also, I’m supposed to rule over every superhero in Regalia but my evil grandmother stole my title. I haven’t cried since I was fifteen, and I’m looking for my prepubescent sweetheart who has probably long moved on. I’m basically a block of marble who has no real friends.”

She doesn’t miss a beat before dropping into a deep voice that Ripred is sure doesn’t sound at all like his own. “Name’s Ripred. Well, that’s not actually my name, but I’m not about to tell you that because I trust no one. I can turn into a rat and I prefer being that way. I had a family I loved but they died and I became bitter and cold. I’m a brilliant fighter, a Rager in fact, who has no war and thus, no purpose. I teach people my ways but they always leave and I don’t know why. I want them to stop. I want them to stay.”

Stopping in her tracks, she turns to face him. “That was about as fun as root canal. Let’s save the psychoanalysis for people who might actually need it, like the Warrior, or people we want to destroy, like Solovet.”

“Who says I don’t want to destroy you, Luxa?”

“You haven’t yet.”

He scoffs. “That’s because I still need you.”

“I will just have to pray that you continue doing so. Though I would like to see you try. If it’s anything like that stunt with the lobster-shifters, I would love to see it.”

He opens his mouth to retort, but Luxa cuts him off with a diamond-hard glare. The rest of the walk to the rendezvous, five long blocks, is made in excruciating silence.


	2. snipe hunt

A dilapidated taxi idles at the curb, looking about thirty years older than Ripred himself, when they finally make it to the rendezvous with Aurora. “What happened to flying, princess? I’m sure you mentioned something about that earlier. And don’t you dare say I’m going senile in my old age, because we all know I’m the sharpest one here.”

“You stole the words right out out my mouth.”

Hearing the commotion, golden-haired woman pokes her head out of the driver’s window. “We could fly, if you wanted to get shot down before we make it a mile. Personally, I’d rather not die today, so we’re grounded.”

“Solovet has increased sky patrols due to our increased aerial activity. So we are taking the necessary precautions. It would be a shame for that to happen “right before the big showdown” as you so helpfully put it.” Luxa adds.

She starts pulling open the passenger side door and Ripred slips through the gap. “Thanks. I told them chivalry wasn’t dead, but they wouldn’t believe me.” He pulls the door closed and smirks at her through the open window. ‘This is for the princess umbrella.”

“This is worth it.” She slips into the backseat. “If you would, Aurora. I’d like to get this done with as quickly as we possibly can. Ripred has been spending too much of his spare time in alleys.”

“It would help if prissy little princesses were on time. Then I wouldn’t’ve had to crouch behind a dumpster for twenty minutes.’

“You must have felt right at home.”

Ripred opens his mouth to respond but Aurora throws out an arm and slaps her hand over his mouth. “I know this is how you two deal with your trauma but I can’t put up with this for the whole drive. And since I can actually do something about it for once, I’m making a new rule. No bantering until you two are very far away from me, or I’m done chauffeuring you around. Otherwise, I’m dumping the two of you on the sidewalk and going home. Understood?”

“But—“

Aurora glares daggers through the rear view mirror. “I mean it, Luxa. Read my mind and you’ll only have more confirmation.” She must because after a few moments, she slumps in her seat, pulling out a pair of headphones and what looks to a map of Regalia and surrounding towns.

Ripred scowls beneath the hand clapped over his face. He thinks about breaking the arm, or at the very least biting her hand, but Aurora must have picked up a mind-reading trick or two from her sidekick, because her grip tightens noticeably. “You too, Rager. Nod if you understand.”

It would seem weak to acquiesce right away, so he takes a minute to run through options. He has no flier sidekick, can’t afford a car, and his network of allies was greatly depleted after the War of the Bane. Most of the remainder have joined Solovet’s regime. Rat-shifters can’t be seen on the streets, for fear of arrest or, more often, death. He’s managed to get by thus far on a combination of his own cunning and using his status as former war hero, but every day more civilians are ascribing to the “kill first, ask questions never” approach to his kind.

In the end, he nods, because there’s not much else he can do. Aurora removes the hand, but not before he gives it a spiteful lick. She curls her nose in disgust but makes no further comment. Ripred expects some satisfaction from the action but…nothing. Straightening, he glances back at Luxa, who is still engrossed in her map. Deciding that course of action is not one he wants to pursue at the moment, he instead asks, “Where in God’s name are we going? We’ve spent the past five years scouring Regalia and every other dirty slum in a hundred mile radius a dozen times over. Is there new information or are we just going through the same motions we have been?”

“One of Luxa’s most reliable sources has given us a location. It’s out in the suburbs, maybe forty minutes from our location.”

"Who is this source? Did they tell her what we should find at this location?”

“I’m not at liberty to disclose that information at this time.”

“So it’s either a really terrible source, and I mean really terrible, or you have no clue.” Ripred takes a moment to study her face, which doesn’t so much as twitch under his scrutiny. “Oh, it’s definitely the second one. How lovely.”

“The princess has been at this since she was born. She knows what she’s doing.”

“She’s also a twenty-four year old girl who’s leading with her heart instead of her head. You know as well as I am that this could be a trap.”

“I’d trust Luxa with my life."

“Well, I’m glad one of us does.” He slouches in his seat, and watches as the stone-gray city whips past. For a moment, he wonders why the hell he’s trying to save it.  
Eventually, monochrome skyscrapers and apartment buildings fade into two-story houses with large stretches of green between them. Trees begin popping up more and more often, and an abundance of glass is replaced by an abundance of brick.

There are signs of the War of the Bane on the edges of everything. In the intervening years, people have done their best to slap a coat of paint over everything, but a trip to Sherwin-Williams can’t do much for the bomb craters Aurora has to swerve around on the outskirts of each town they pass through. Shells of houses sit with broken windows and caved-in roofs waiting to be demolished.

Some of the damage is even older; his country has known war for almost as long as Ripred has been alive and despite what he tells the little princess, he has a good number of years under his bed. Some cross the Waterway looking for better life in another place, preferably with less superhero in-fighting and bombings gunfire as less of a daily occurrence.

He can’t blame them. Twenty or so years ago, he was ready to do the same. He wishes he could say the reason he stayed is that the Underland got deep in his bones and he couldn’t bring himself to abandon his homeland, but other bones have become his excuse.

As his thoughts meander into the introspective, pockmarked asphalt cedes to twisting dirt roads as suburbia bleeds into an almost pastoral scene. The distance between houses are numbered in miles. Ripred wonders which of their scattered number ended up in the armpit of nowhere. It could be any number of them, in all reality. After Luxa’s fall, those with any brains went to ground and Ripred made it a point not to ally himself with people who lacked in that regard unless absolute necessity dictated otherwise.

“Are we getting close?” he asks as they pass yet another band of grazing cattle.

“Five minutes, though if you keep up with that line of questioning, I might be forced to make it fifteen.”

“Then I’ll try a different one. Do you have any clue who this person is we’re going to visit? Because I’d like to know what sort of weapon I should have at my disposal.”

“Patience. We’ll find out soon enough. Does it really matter in any case? If it is a trap, we know you only have one real weapon at your disposal.”

“Are you referring to my charm, my wit, or my stunning good looks?”

She keeps her eyes glued to the road but a tiny quirk at the corner of her mouth lets him know that this quest isn’t entirely a waste. He’s still basking in that satisfaction when Luxa perks up and pulls out her headphones. She glances down at her map and back at the surroundings. “We should be coming up on it soon. On the right.”

It’s not what Ripred expected; a sprawling, single-story ranch house on a small but reasonably well-maintained piece of land. A small barn with peeling red paint stands near the back of he property, a rusting blue tractor and a reasonably well maintained black pick-up parked out front. A colorful array of flowers grows out front, seemingly no rhyme or reason to where they were planted. Thinking back on their array of allies, he knows no one, dead or alive, who would have such a display

Aurora parks at the end of the long driveway, sighing relief as she put the taxi into park. Luxa scrambles out of the car, leaving her map on the seat and her headphones half-dangling out of her pocket. “Come on. This is the place.”

Ripred reluctantly follows, slamming his door hard enough to make Aurora wince. A few flakes of the paint flutter to the ground. “Now will you tell me who it is we’ve come to see?” She stops, about halfway to the house, but when she doesn’t answer, he’s forced to ask, “Do you even know who it is?”

“I think this is _it_.”

“What’s it?”

“We’ve searched the length and breadth of areas charted and uncharted and come up with nothing. We both know we need a miracle, and this just might be what we’ve been looking for.”

“We don’t need a miracle. Hell, I’ve never known you to believe in them. This is from the girl who used to think she would die every day so she wouldn’t be afraid if the time came.

“Times change. Sometimes necessity forces us to hope. To believe in something like miracles.”

He scoffs. “We need the Warrior and pardon me, but I think if he was hiding out on a farm in the middle of nowhere, Solovet would have found him a long time ago. As much as I hate Granny dearest, she’s not stupid. If she was, she never would have stolen your place in the first place. She’s been looking in the same places for just as long as we have. Even if this was once an ally, we’re either looking at a plant, someone who turned in the last twelve years or that door is going to blow up as soon as you open it. If this is anything other than a trap, I’ll eat my shoe.”

Luxa’s violet eyes flash and she walks the last fifty or so yards with a quick, determined step Ripred finds himself struggling to match. “If you do this, we’re all going to regret it.”

She shrugs as she approaches the red-painted front door. “Add it to the list, I suppose.” He finally closes the distance between them, but she raps on the door before he can catch her wrist.

It seems to echo through the countryside and Ripred takes several quick steps back, bracing for impact. Impact that never comes. Instead, the door opens with a quiet creak and Luxa turns around, grinning like the rat who got the shrimp and cream.

“Best get started on eating that shoe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been over a year since I updated this and I have no excuse except I immediately had no idea where this was going and I didn't finish re-reading the series because I lent the books out to a friend. However, I decided I definitely want to keep going with this and with a few tweaks to my original ideas, I think this could work out. Let me know what you think (and if you have any title suggestions)! I'm going to make no regular update promises because senior year, but it should hopefully be less than a year this time. 
> 
> Also, I'm looking for a beta reader for this story, so if you're interested (or just want to flail about these books with me) you can contact me on [my TUC tumblr](http://www.remedyandwrongentwine.tumblr.com) or [my main blog](http://www.vapiddreamscape.tumblr.com).

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for this fandom or an AU of any kind. Hopefully it's enjoyable. I'll try to update somewhat regularly, but my writing schedule is sporadic at best. Still, I'm enjoying working on this, so expect more soon. (Also expect a better title. It's late and I can't think of anything better.)


End file.
